Super Rugby Pacific has some real issues, while the NRL thrives – Editorial
It is no secret that Super Rugby Pacific is facing some serious issues.
News last week that Moana Pasifika are the latest side about to fold is yet another blow to the at-times troubled competition.
Rugby fans are all too aware Super Rugby is a shell of its former self from a couple of decades prior.
While television audiences appear to still be healthy, stadiums are too often half-empty. It feels like a lifetime ago that places like Eden Park in Auckland and Athletic Park in Wellington were full of fans.
The opening of Christchurch’s new covered stadium and the promise of a bumper crowd over Anzac weekend will be exciting but also a reminder of what once was.
Moana Pasifika’s exit, unless it is saved by a financial white knight, will join a long list of former Super Rugby teams. The estimated operating costs needed to fund the side are between $10 million and $12m a year.
Moana will be the 10th different franchise to leave the competition.
The South African teams joined the Pro16 competition in Europe after Super Rugby’s Covid shutdown in 2020. It is hard to argue that this wasn’t a brilliantly successful move that has strengthened South African rugby. Many Kiwi fans would also say it has weakened the All Blacks.
Japan’s Sunwolves (2015-2020), Argentina’s Jaguares (2016–2020) and the Melbourne Rebels (2009-2024) are the other former franchises that didn’t survive.
Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell has said the New Zealand Government will not step in to save Moana Pasifika from going under. Nor should it.
This competition needs to stand on its own two feet.
In 2022, Moana Pasifika received $4.5m of government funding through Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa, in what was the team’s inaugural season.
That consisted of $4m to underwrite Moana Pasifika to satisfy the Super Rugby Pacific licence terms and $500,000 as an operating grant for the Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust.
Of that $4m, $3m was a loan. Sport NZ is still working with Moana Pasifika to determine how it will be paid back.
“The Government does not have a role in providing funding for professional sports franchises and it’s important that any longer-term financial arrangements are worked through independently,” Mitchell said.
The way Super Rugby Pacific is trending, it will need a reboot or face extinction.
Now, contrast Super’s woes with the success of the NRL.
Big crowds, excitement every weekend, a grand final that rivals any in the sports world and expansion – the latest team being the Redcliffe Dolphins in Queensland.
There will be 18 teams in the hyper-competitive NRL next year when the Perth Bears join – and it is unlikely the league will stop there.
All it’s missing is a New Zealand Warriors grand final win.